Sick of Being Sick

 This cold has finally brought me down.  I didn't go to work last night.  Depending on how much I cough while trying to sleep will determine whether I go in tonight or not.  They do everything electronically and I have no idea if my request for the time off is approved or not until after my shift is over.  A few happy things for today:

• Gideon is a wonderful and compassionate human.
• I crafted a little.  The only picture I took was in-progress.  I cut out the rubber to make a stamp.  I think Keziah was going to print it today at the studio but I haven't seen it if she did.

The green is what was carved out at this point.

• I happened to catch a glimpse of the sunset through my closed blinds before going to bed.  Beautiful flaming oranges.

Happy Solstice!

☮

Currently reading: The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Peak

 During this peak season at work I have spread myself a little too thin.  There hasn't been enough sleep.  It is my hope that after I finish writing this I will get a fair amount of sleep before having to wake up for another eleven hour night on my feet.  I honestly thought I was going to fall asleep while standing at work.  I didn't.  In fact, at one point they pulled another person off the line which made what I had to do go from three aisles to five and I was able to rally and do a pretty good job at getting the work done.  That is my happy thing for today.

Sunset.

☮

Currently listening to: The Autobiography of Santa Claus, as told to Jeff Guinn.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Holiday Lights

 My Sunday was spent mostly being lazy and playing games on my phone all day.  Well, almost all day.  Eventually I went for a nice walk as the sun was setting....

and the moon rising.

After I got home from my walk Zed came home and he and I took the dog, Aesop for a walk.  The sun had set by this time but there were still some beautiful colors along the horizon.

The family gathered and got into the van to see the Gift of Lights ay NHMS.  It was an interesting display with different themed lights along the way.   Some were Santa themed, others nursery rhymes.  There were a few other themes as well.

Santa's race car.

Six geese a-laying.

Those are my happy things for today.

☮

Currently reading:  The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Footprints in the Snow

Before I start on my list of happy things... A family member passed away from cancer today.  He was a fun loving, hard working person who will be missed.  Putting a smile on people's faces was something he liked to do.  

                                                                                              

There are three days left in November.  At the beginning of the month I set a goal to write 11,000 words this month for NaNoWriMo.  It isn't a lot of words.  I know of a teenager who hit the 50,000 word goal on Thanksgiving.  Today I wrote 1,159 words bringing my total so far to 9,585.  I'm not there yet, but I am very pleased with today's progress.  Other happy things for today:

• This morning I came up to clean my room and got distracted.  My room didn't get any neater.  I started looking for jobs again and got side tracked.  It was a lovely rabbit hole where I became a business professional and traveled to Spain.  I don't see this dream becoming a reality anytime soon.  It did give me some lovely ideas that I was able to write about for one of my NaNoWriMo stories.  Taking time to dream is important and can be a motivator.
• There is snow on the ground.  Somehow I thought it was going to melt away today.  It is November 27th, so the snow stayed.  The fresh snow brought footprints!

These are Aesop's pawprints.

Unknown print.

Deer print

Not sure, possibly a neighbor's cat.

• Aesop was very cute when I took him outside in the snow this morning.  He kept snuffling and eating the snow.  Happy dog!
• Zed and I took Aesop for a walk on the back property.  I have been avoiding the north side of the property since spring when the rains came making it hard to cross the little stream.  We walked the two loops that make up a mile.  It is still very wet, but winter boots kept my feet dry.

☮

Currently reading: The Middle Ages: A Graphic History, by Eleanor Janega and Neil Max Emmanuel.
        
Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Look to the Sky

 This morning Keziah and I took Aesop to a local dog park. ALL the dogs were much larger than Aesop. He would have fun, then seem a bit overwhelmed, have fun, overwhelmed. We brought him to the other side of the fence and he played with one of the big dogs through the fence. Eventually we took him for a walk on the trails near the park. They are brand new trails with big bridges near the river.  It is a beautiful area.

We let Aesop be on the long leash.

Deer prints!

Other happy things from today:

• Zed, Gideon and I got up before dawn to try to see the lunar eclipse.  The rain had stopped and the clouds thinned when we first went out.  We got occasional glimpses of the moon, mostly a dark orange color with a sliver of it bright and silvery.

As usual, the camera on my phone doesn't capture the moon well.
The batteries needed charging on the other camera.

• The moon had a magical look when thin layers of clouds would glide between us and the moon.
• The sky got clearer as the time passed.  We all saw at least one shooting star.  These were most likely part of the Leonid meteor shower that was at peak the previous night.
• The constellations were also big and shiney once the clouds went away.

Much of Orion.

• After Gideon went back to bed, Zed and I saw four different satellites.  I Googled where the International Space Station should be and it is unlikely that any of the satellites were it.
• While the sky was performing above, we performed a ritual below.  Zed decided to take an old shirt that he should have just gotten rid of and burn it.  So, I decided to burn something too.  There was a nightshirt of my mother's that I put into my rotation of night clothes after she died.  It was threadbare and tearing but still extremely comfortable.  I recently purchased some new nightshirts and was going to get rid of it then, but didn't.  It had a Halloween-ish theme, so maybe after that, nope.  Maybe it was more autumn and could wait until after Thanksgiving... I have a problem.  It is gone and before Thanksgiving because Zed wanted to burn his shirt.  These two items of clothing as well as some sticks and old mail are now ash.  Zed saved some of the ash, he has a plan.  The rest is for me and it will go to feed part of the garden.

Ash...

The nightshirt went up real fast.

Burn!!

• Another lovely sunset.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Placebo

 Last night there were supposed to be meteor showers but I didn't go out to see them.  Tonight is a lunar eclipse.  Zed wants to see it so I might get up and out too.  Currently there is cloud cover.   He has been listening to a podcast that has to do with the open-label placebo effect.  It is called The Placebo Magick Podcast.  It sounds interesting and I am going to try to look into it later.  The point of this is that we might try some placebo magick during the eclipse tonight, if we wake up.  Other happy things from today:

• Stepping outside with our dog, Aesop, this morning I didn't wear any shoes.  I had expected a very cold ground, it was only a little cold.  There were no signs of frost and the ground was good under my feet.  
• The day warmed to almost 70 degrees which made for a lovely day to go for a walk with my friend Amy.  We hadn't seen each other in a while and it was good to walk and talk for a while.
• Along the walk we saw a Halloween display still up in someone's yard.  There was something about the carriage that they used that I just think was spectacular.  It's a beautiful carriage and interesting Halloween decoration.  Apparently one can be purchased at Home Depot.

• There was a lovely sunset.  

• And a bright mostly full moon to light up the night.  Later there was rain, but the evening began with mostly clear skies.

☮

Currently reading: Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Tired Tuesday

 Working late was an option today.  I was tired and decided to go home instead.  Good thing I did because I had forgotten that I had a meeting with my Protege to go over some exchequer/treasurer things.  We had a very productive afternoon that has left me exhausted.  Other happy things for today:

• Even though I was tired I still got some writing done for NaNoWriMo.  
• Around sunset, I realized that I had not taken any pictures yet and what better thing to take a picture of than the sunset.  

• There were sprinkles coming down that I could hear more than feel.  It was a mix of rain and either sleet or freezing rain.  Not snow yet, but winter like weather.

Raindrops and icy precipitation.

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Rainy Day

 It was a rainy Friday.  For Keziah and I the first task of the day was to empty the septic in the RV.  Not the funnest of jobs, but I am happy that it is done and the biggest problem we had was getting the key to work unlock the drain.  Other happy things for today:

• When the rain wasn't heavy, I worked in the garden some.  I had a gentle (no injury/didn't fall) reminder that working in mud is slippery.  
• As the clouds started to break up tonight the sky turned orange.  I didn't end up with a picture that showed the color.

• For NaNoWriMo I have started another story.  Maybe if I could keep to one theme I would do better.  I got 411 words done and have a total of 4264 so far.  With a goal of 11,000 I think I am doing okay.
• It is Minecraft Friday!

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Nuts

 First, thank you -K, for letting me know the link wasn't working.  The setting for the YouTube video I tried to share yesterday is fixed.  Here is the link again for convenience.  Someday I hope to make less silly mistakes when posting things online.  🤪  Here are some happy things from today:

• For NaNoWriMo I wrote 701 words today.  That puts me really close to on track for my daily word count after missing last Saturday.  My total word count is 3244.  One of the short stories I was working on is basically finished.  I'm not editing at this point.
• The cats decided to sleep on the bed by me while I wrote.  

            At one point Winston, the orange tabby, reached out his paw in a long stretch and tapped on the             paw of Nanni, the brown tabby.  It was adorable but was not photographed.

• Aesop, the dog, has a new feeder cup.  It is supposed to make him have to think more to get at the food or treats.  He kept picking it onto the couch which we really don't want him to do.  I kept putting it back on the floor.  Aesop wanted both, to be on the couch and have the food so I got this picture...

• Just before dark I decided I needed to do something more productive and headed out to the back property to plant the four walnuts I was saving.  Considering my track record, I don't expect them to grow, but I have to try.  I used a yard flag and some tomato cages to mark them.  I expect that squirrels or chipmunks will enjoy them over the winter.  
• My timing was perfect as I came down the hill after planting the walnuts the sun had set with the sky still turning darker.  The moon had risen and seemed to be right between Jupiter and Venus.

Sun has set.

The planets are harder to see.
Jupiter is to the left and up a little from the moon.
Venus is to the right and down from the moon (much harder to see). 

☮

Currently reading: The Backyard Homestead Seasonal Planner, by Ann Larkin Hansen.
    This is the book I have been trying to read a chapter each month to follow along with the season and     forgot last month.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Happy Halloween

 Halloween is not my favorite holiday.  I went out with the family while Gideon trick-or-treated tonight.  Zed and Keziah went to the movies in the middle and Gideon and I finished around walking the neighborhood and then home.  Sorcerer Gideon had a blast waving his wand and getting treats.

Applying the make-up

Rawr!

The family.

Back home.

Other happy things for today:

• It was a beautiful, after-the-rain, fall day.  

• Every week, TF and I have a phone call where we plan out our week ahead and discuss what we got done the week previous.  It is our goal accountability time.  This week we talked a long time about things like life, strategies, and neurodivergence.  
• The sunset was lovely tonight while we wandered streets filled with monsters, fairies, dogs, and firemen.

🎃☮🎃

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

Oh, My!

Rhizomes, pips, seeds, and bulbs were planted today; the tubers were yesterday.*  I forgot to call to see about having mulch and soil delivered. Hopefully I will remember and it can get here before the next frost. I’m so happy that I got so much planted. I still have some more to plant on another day. Other happy things for today:

• 

  Flying turkey.

  
  
• Nanni, the brown tabby, woke me this morning. It may have been so I could hear Aesop, the dog, whining and wanting to go out. For this first short walk we saw some turkeys. Aesop scared them and they flew away. At least one ended up in a tree.

He is still trying to get up.

He's safe up in a tree!

• There are some flowers that I only seem to see blooming when I walk Aesop in the morning. According to Lens they are either white campion or night-flowering catchfly. My initial research says that both of these bloom at night. Maybe I will find the time to get more information before winter.

• Frost covered the ground this morning.

• Sunset set the trees aglow.

It was a good day.

☮

Currently reading:  Mount Washington A Guide and Short History, by Peter E. Randall.

Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

*Rhizomes---iris

pips---lily-of-the-valley

bulbs---tulips, crocus, paperwhite (narcissus)

tubers---daylily 

seeds---cereal rye (winter cover crop in the garden)